JP7010467B2 - Inspection device for packed eggs - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an inspection device for packed eggs.

At the GP Center (Grading and Packing Center) where eggs are sorted and packaged, eggs are transported in a predetermined direction, subjected to predetermined treatments such as direction alignment, egg washing / drying, and weighing, and then sorted based on the weighing results.・ Perform packaging processing. Then, the eggs packed in the predetermined pack will be shipped to the market.

At the GP center mentioned above, various inspections that eggs receive while being transported are unsuitable for commercialization, such as eggs with cracked shells (egg rupture) and eggs with foreign substances (such as manure and egg contents) attached. Eggs have been removed before packing. However, it cannot be denied that such work may be overlooked, or cracks or foreign matter may adhere to the above-mentioned post-inspection process. Therefore, after packing the eggs, the inspector again performs a visual inspection from above the pack and by turning the pack over, but this inspection requires a great deal of labor, and mechanization is being promoted. (For example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2 below).

The inspection device described in Patent Document 1 irradiates the lower part of the pack with near-infrared rays to photograph so-called content leakage (a state in which egg white and yolk flow out into the pack from a crack in the eggshell), or a hole in the eggshell. The open state is photographed using the reflection of near infrared rays.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-47 Japanese Patent No. 58995553

Usually, the pack that contains the egg has an egg seat formed to follow the shape of the egg. The egg seat is provided with a large number of irregularities so that the strength does not decrease even if the pack is made of a thin material. When light is irradiated toward such a pack, so-called glare occurs due to the reflected light. Therefore, there is a problem that the inside of the pack existing inside the glare is hidden and accurate inspection results cannot be obtained.

The present invention focuses on such a defect, and an object of the present invention is to provide an inspection device capable of easily inspecting the state of packed eggs.

The packed egg inspection device of the present invention has an irradiation unit that irradiates an egg through a translucent pack with excitation light, and an egg that is excited by the excitation light and emits light having a wavelength different from that of the excitation light. Based on an image pickup unit that shoots through the pack and an image that cuts out the light emitted by the pack that is excited by the excitation light among the light that is captured by the image pickup unit and goes from the packed egg side to the image pickup unit side. , It is provided with a determination unit for determining the state of packed eggs .

The "translucent pack" may be any kind as long as the shape of the other side can be recognized to some extent through the pack. For example, a transparent container having an extremely high light transmittance. In addition, it may be a colored transparent (colored transparent) container.

A light adjustment unit that is excited by the excitation light and cuts the light emitted by the pack is provided, and as a specific embodiment of the light adjustment unit, light arranged between the image pickup unit and the packed egg is provided. Examples thereof include a filter and one that processes an image taken by the imaging unit.

The "state of packed eggs" is not only related to the condition of the eggshell, such as so-called dirty eggs (adhesion of foreign matter to the eggshell) and egg rupture, but also foreign matter mixed in the pack and so-called egg omission (eggs are contained). It also includes (the state where the egg is not contained in the egg seat in the pack to be done). The inspection device of the present invention may inspect at least one of these states.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an inspection device capable of easily inspecting the state of packed eggs.

The above and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention as understood in connection with the accompanying drawings.

The schematic diagram of the inspection apparatus for packed eggs which shows one Embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The image pickup device 2 for a packed egg according to the present embodiment is for photographing a "packed egg P" in which an egg E is housed in a translucent pack P1. Further, the packed egg inspection device 1 of the present embodiment including the egg imaging device 2 inspects the packed egg P.

The packed egg P includes a pack P1 and eggs E packed in a predetermined number in the pack P1. The pack P1 includes a main body P2 that houses the lower side of the egg E, and a lid P3 that is arranged above the main body P2. The main body P2 and the lid P3 are connected via a hinge P4 and are integrally molded with a colorless and transparent synthetic resin (for example, PET: polyethylene terephthalate), which is well known in this field. The main body P2 includes a plurality of egg seats P5. Each ovary P5 is a recess formed to follow the shape of the egg E, and the ovary P5 has a large number of irregularities (not shown) so that the strength does not decrease even if the pack is made of a thin material. ) Is provided.

The packed egg inspection device 1 is arranged on the downstream side of an egg packaging device (not shown) well known in the art, and inspects the packed egg P positioned at a predetermined inspection position. .. The packed egg inspection device 1 includes an irradiation unit 6, an image pickup unit 7, a light adjustment unit 8, and a determination unit 9. In other words, the packed egg inspection device 1 includes a packed egg imaging device 2 and a determination unit 9.

The irradiation unit 6 irradiates the egg E through the translucent pack with the excitation light. The excitation light includes a wavelength capable of exciting electrons in the eggshell dye (protoporphyrin), and the irradiation unit 6 of the present embodiment irradiates ultraviolet L1 as the excitation light. For example, it is an ultraviolet LED that emits light having a peak at a wavelength near 400 nm. The ultraviolet L1 is shown by a alternate long and short dash line in the figure. The irradiation unit 6 irradiates the pack egg P diagonally toward the lower surface side. In addition, in this specification, "ultraviolet rays" also includes visible light having a wavelength adjacent to ultraviolet rays (a short wavelength near 400 nm).

In the present embodiment, among the light components emitted from the irradiation unit 6, an optical filter that cuts wavelengths of 520 nm or more on the irradiation unit 6 side in order to block / suppress wavelengths similar to the fluorescence L3 of the eggshell described later. 61 is arranged. As a result, only the wavelength shorter than 520 nm from the irradiation unit 6 is adjusted to irradiate the egg E through the pack.

The image pickup unit 7 photographs the egg E, which is excited by the ultraviolet L1 and emits light having a wavelength different from that of the ultraviolet L1, through the pack. The eggshell excited by the ultraviolet L1 emits red fluorescent L3 having emission peaks at wavelengths of 600 nm to 700 nm, specifically, wavelengths near 610 nm and 670 nm, respectively. That is, the "light having a wavelength different from the excitation light" in the present embodiment refers to this fluorescence L3. Fluorescent L3 is shown by a solid line in the figure. The image pickup unit 7 may be any as long as it can detect the red fluorescence L3, and a monochrome camera is used in this embodiment. The image pickup unit 7 is arranged directly below the pack P1 and is set so that the lens of the camera faces directly upward.

The light adjusting unit 8 cuts (blocks or suppresses) the light having the wavelength of the excitation light among the light directed from the packed egg E side to the image pickup unit 7. The light adjusting unit 8 creates an image in which light other than the fluorescent L3 is cut so that only the fluorescent L3 of the eggshell is incident on the imaging unit 7. The reflected light L21 has the same wavelength as the incident light (ultraviolet rays L1), and is shown by a alternate long and short dash line in the figure. The light adjustment unit 8 transmits red light having an emission peak at a wavelength of 600 nm to 700 nm, which is excited by ultraviolet L1 and emits light on the eggshell surface, and dims the pack-related light L2 having a wavelength shorter than 600 nm. Is. The optical adjustment unit 8 is, for example, an optical filter that cuts wavelengths of 600 nm or less. The light adjustment unit 8 is provided between the egg E and the image pickup unit 7, specifically, adjacent to the lens of the image pickup unit 7.

The light adjustment unit 8 of the present embodiment also suppresses the incident of the pack-related light L2 including the green light (fluorescence L22 of the pack P1) excited by the ultraviolet light L1 and emitted on the pack surface into the image pickup unit 7. be. In other words, the light adjustment unit 8 of the present embodiment is excited by the excitation light (ultraviolet light L1) and emitted by the egg E (fluorescence L3) and the light excited by the excitation light (ultraviolet light L1) and emitted by the pack P1 (ultraviolet light L1). It distinguishes between the fluorescence L22) of the pack P1 and the light (reflected light L21) having the wavelength of the excitation light (ultraviolet light L1). The fluorescence L22 of the pack P1 is shown by a broken line in the figure.

The determination unit 9 is composed of a dedicated or general-purpose computer such as a CPU, an internal memory, an input / output interface, and an AD conversion unit. Then, the function as the determination unit 9 is exhibited by the cooperation of the CPU and other peripheral devices according to the program stored in the internal memory. The determination unit 9 of the present embodiment determines the state of the packed egg E based on the image taken by the image pickup unit 7. Specifically, the egg E (egg shell) emits red light, and the other parts do not emit light, or even if the light is emitted, the green emission of the pack P1 is not photographed by the light adjustment unit 8, or the ultraviolet L1 is reflected. Even so, since the reflected light L21 of the ultraviolet L1 is not photographed by the light adjusting unit 8, the egg E appears brighter than the surrounding portion in the photographed image.

In the case of a dirty egg, the fluorescence L3 of the eggshell is blocked / suppressed by the dirt on the surface of the eggshell, so that the dirty part appears darker than the whole egg E. In the case of egg rupture, since there is no luminescent eggshell, the holed portion appears darker than the entire egg E. In the case of foreign matter mixed in the pack P1, the presence of foreign matter between the eggshell and the imaging unit 7 blocks / suppresses the fluorescence L3 of the eggshell, so that the part where the foreign matter is present is compared with the other parts. Appears dark. In the case of egg omission, since there is no luminescent eggshell, it appears as dark as the surroundings.

When the determination unit 9 has a dark portion in the inner region where the egg E is present, the state of the packed egg E is one of the above-mentioned reasons (dirty egg / broken egg / foreign matter in the pack). It is determined that the packed egg P is not normal due to (mixing) and is not suitable for commercialization. Further, when the presence of the egg E cannot be detected (when the portion that appears brightly does not exist), the determination unit 9 determines that the egg P is in a state of missing egg and is unsuitable for commercialization.

It should be noted that the "bright spot" where the egg E exists and the "dark spot" around it are separated, or the "bright spot" where the egg E exists and the "dark spot" in the inner region. It can be separated from the above by using various methods well known in this field, such as performing binarization processing using a threshold value set in advance in the internal memory.

As described above, the packed egg imaging device 2 according to the present embodiment includes an irradiation unit 6 that irradiates the egg E through the translucent pack with excitation light (ultraviolet rays L1), and the excitation light. It is provided with an image pickup unit 7 for photographing an egg E excited by (ultraviolet rays L1) and emitting light (fluorescence L3) having a wavelength different from that of the excitation light through a pack. Therefore, it is possible to photograph the inside of the pack P1 more preferably than when the conventional reflected light is used. It should be noted that it is possible to shoot favorably regardless of the color of the eggshell.

Further, of the light directed from the packed egg E side to the image pickup unit 7 side, the light (fluorescent L3) excited by the excitation light (ultraviolet L1) and emitted by the egg E and the excitation light (ultraviolet L1) are excited. The light adjusting unit 8 for distinguishing the light emitted by the pack P1 (fluorescence L22 of the pack P1) and the light having the wavelength of the excitation light (ultraviolet light L1) (reflected light L21) is provided. Therefore, it is possible to photograph the inside of the pack P1 while suppressing the glare that occurs when the light is applied to the pack P1 provided with a large number of irregularities.

In particular, the light adjustment unit 8 of the present embodiment cuts light other than light (fluorescence) having a wavelength different from that of the excitation light. In other words, the light adjustment unit 8 transmits red light having an emission peak at a wavelength of 600 nm to 700 nm, which is excited by ultraviolet L1 and emits light on the eggshell surface, and reduces pack-related light L2 having a wavelength shorter than 600 nm. It shines.

Further, the light adjustment unit 8 suppresses the incident of the pack-related light L2 including the green light excited by the ultraviolet light L1 and emitted on the surface of the pack into the image pickup unit 7. In other words, the light adjustment unit 8 cuts at least the light having the wavelength of the excitation light (near 400 nm), and also cuts the light having the wavelength of the fluorescent L22 of the pack P1 adjacent thereto (particularly green light). Therefore, it is possible to detect only the fluorescence L3 of the eggshell without capturing the fluorescence L22 of the pack P1.

Since the light adjustment unit 8 is an optical filter arranged between the image pickup unit 7 and the packed egg E, complicated image processing after shooting is not required.

The packed egg inspection device 1 of the present embodiment is a determination unit for determining the state of the packed egg based on the image pickup device 2 for the packed egg and the image taken by the image pickup unit 7. Equipped with 9. In other words, the packed egg inspection device 1 photographs the irradiation unit 6 that irradiates the translucent egg E through the pack with the ultraviolet L1 and the egg E that is excited by the ultraviolet L1 and emits fluorescence L3. The imaging unit 7 to suppress the incident of the pack-related light L2 including the reflected light L21 from the pack P1 onto the imaging unit 7, and the egg E packed in the pack P1 based on the captured image. A determination unit 9 for determining a state is provided. Therefore, the internal state of the pack P1 can be inspected more preferably than when the conventional reflected light is used. In addition, it is possible to automate the work that was conventionally visually confirmed by the inspector while turning it over one by one.

The irradiation unit 6 of the present embodiment emits light having a wavelength of 360 nm to 410 nm. Fluorescence L3 due to protoporphyrin in eggshell can be observed at a wavelength of 300 nm to 500 nm, but among them, the wavelength of 360 nm to 410 nm is a wavelength at which fluorescence L3 due to protoporphyrin in eggshell is particularly easy to observe. Was discovered by the present inventor. Further, at a wavelength shorter than 360 nm, the influence of the light (fluorescent L22 of the pack P1) emitted by PET, which is the raw material of the pack material, becomes large when the ultraviolet L1 is irradiated to the pack P1, so that the egg E through the pack is irradiated. Is preferably light having a peak at a wavelength of 360 nm or more.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment.

The packed egg imager is not limited to the one used together with the determination unit. Further, the packed egg imaging device may not be provided with a light adjusting unit. The light adjustment unit may be at least one that distinguishes between the light emitted by the egg excited by the excitation light and the light having the wavelength of the excitation light.

The optical adjustment unit is not limited to the optical filter provided adjacent to the image pickup unit. For example, when a color camera, a multispectral camera, a hyperspectral camera, or the like is used as the image pickup unit, it is preferable that the light adjustment unit processes an image once taken by the image pickup unit. Even in such a case, it is possible to create an image in which light other than the wavelength (for example, fluorescence) different from the excitation light is cut, as described above. Further, even in the case of an optical filter, the optical filter is not limited to that of the above-described embodiment, and the arrangement location thereof can be changed in various ways.

The irradiation unit may be any one as long as it contains a wavelength that can excite the eggshell, and is not limited to the above-mentioned ultraviolet LED that emits light having a peak at a wavelength near 400 nm. Further, the place where the irradiation unit is arranged and the direction of irradiation are not limited to those shown in the figure.

In the above-described embodiment, since the irradiation unit emits light having a wavelength of 600 nm to 700 nm at the same time in addition to ultraviolet rays, an optical filter is also arranged on the irradiation unit side, but the irradiation does not include such a wavelength. If the unit is used, an optical filter is not required.

The inspection device for packed eggs is usually inspected with the lid open, but the inspection may be carried out after the lid is closed. Further, the inspection may be performed from above after closing the lid. The "state of packed eggs" to be inspected at that time is whether or not the label is properly placed in the pack, in addition to the above-mentioned dirty eggs, broken eggs, foreign matter contamination and egg omission, or It may be whether or not the bean sticker is properly attached to the egg. Alternatively, the image may be taken from the side surface of the packed egg. By taking pictures from multiple directions, the inspection accuracy can be improved.

The pack may have a label inside or a bean sticker on the egg. The pack is not limited to the one shown in the figure, and may have any color and shape. For example, it is not limited to colorless and transparent ones. In addition, the number of egg seats is not limited to the one shown in the figure, and in the figure, a "flat pack" with a flat top surface is shown, but the lid also has many dents along the shape of the egg and many dents. It may be a "regular pack" provided with irregularities.

The embodiments disclosed this time are examples and are not limited thereto. The present invention is shown by the scope of claims, not the scope described above, and is intended to include all modifications in the sense and scope equivalent to the scope of claims.

The present invention can be used as an inspection device for inspecting the condition of packed eggs.

1 ... Packed egg inspection device 2 ... Packed egg imaging device 6 ... Irradiation unit 7 ... Imaging unit 8 ... Light adjustment unit 9 ... Judgment unit L1 ... Excitation light (ultraviolet rays)
L3 ... Light with a wavelength different from the excitation light (fluorescence)
P1 ... Pack E ... Egg

Claims (2)

An irradiation part that irradiates the egg through the translucent pack with excitation light,
An image pickup unit that captures an egg that is excited by the excitation light and emits light with a wavelength different from that of the excitation light through the pack .
The state of the packed egg based on the image obtained by cutting the light emitted by the pack excited by the excitation light among the light taken by the image pickup unit and directed from the packed egg side to the image pickup unit side. An inspection device for packed eggs equipped with a determination unit for determination . It is provided with an optical adjustment unit that cuts the light emitted by the pack that is excited by the excitation light.
The packed pack according to claim 1 , wherein the light adjusting unit processes an optical filter arranged between the image pickup unit and the packed egg, or an image captured by the image pickup unit. Egg inspection device.

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